Perl DBI <1.654: FetchHashKeyName can cause SegFault (CVE-2026-88816)
CVE-2026-88816 Published on September 28, 2026
DBI versions before 1.654 for Perl incorrectly treat numeric values as strings in FetchHashKeyName
DBI versions before 1.654 for Perl incorrectly treat numeric values as strings in FetchHashKeyName.
fetchrow_hashref uses the string pointer of the FetchHashKeyName attribute as the key name without stringifying it first. When FetchHashKeyName has been set to an integer (IV) or floating-point (NV) value, that pointer is invalid, so reading the key name triggers a segmentation fault.
This can be triggered with the following code:
my $dbh = DBI->connect( "dbi:ExampleP:", "", "",
{ RaiseError => 0, PrintError => 0 } );
$dbh->{FetchHashKeyName} = 42;
my $sth = $dbh->prepare("select mode, size, name from .");
$sth->execute;
$sth->fetchrow_hashref;
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-88816 is exploitable with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.
Weakness Type
What is an Object Type Confusion Vulnerability?
The program allocates or initializes a resource such as a pointer, object, or variable using one type, but it later accesses that resource using a type that is incompatible with the original type.
CVE-2026-88816 has been classified to as an Object Type Confusion vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-88816
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